THE convincing 7-1 league victory the day before away to Atherstone had set Town up well for their National Vase quarter final at South Cheshire who had lost 6-3 the previous day.

The whistle that brought the start of the game also initiated a 10 minute downpour that seemed to dampen the spirits of the visitors as Cheshire looked the stronger team. Clever play down the right and strong play through the centre made the hosts always look dangerous and they forced a few short corners, but they were comfortably dealt with by keeper Giles Barton and Andy Fox who ran out smothering the shot.

The deadlock was broken by Cheshire after an intelligent aerial ball that eliminated the solid centre backs Rob Howlett and Ian Bassett. Barton left the ball at the top of the D to run out but it didn’t maybe due to the speed of the pitch, ball and striker, and Town were one down.

Town continued to put pressure on though, with Fox denting the crossbar from the top of the D, and after good work between strikers Dave Morris and Max Grossmith a misunderstanding led to a short corner when it could have been so much better. A possibly harsh decision of a short corner on the stroke of halftime left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Town as it was converted with a well struck hit, two nil.

After coach Richard Smith had given everyone direction and an inspirational speech from Matt Almond reminding the team of what they were fighting, for Town were raring to go. Within five minutes a goal had been pegged back through a Gavin Guest drag flick from a short corner to make it three in three cup games.

Tireless battling from Tom Mason down the flanks and hard work from Torbjorn Turland were good outlets for David Ottewell and James Tobin who soaked up pressure superbly. The equaliser came 15 minutes from time when Jake Vincent picked the ball up just inside his own half and took it down the right. After cutting inside past the left back Vincent found no pass available due to good marking but a badly-placed keeper allowed an easy sweep into the corner at the near post, game on.

The game was now end to end, with Barton rectifying his early mistake with good saves from short corners, with the help of Tobin who picked up on the right slip early. Howlett and Bassett put their bodies on the line by getting to the floor for last ditch tackles, the latter bleeding from the head after one incident. Turland made a great interception to lay Vincent off down the right for a run an almost carbon copy of his earlier goal, this time once in the D he found Morris alone at the back post who swept in the winner with five minutes to go. Town held on to give them the win and a deserved place in the last four. Man of the match went to Jake Vincent.

Loughborough now host Gainsborough Rose on Sunday April 5 with a place in the final up for grabs, a Lincolnshire team who play mainly in Yorkshire and have lost only two games this season and knocked Town out of this very competition last year. The Loughborough Post Office Man of the Match went to Jake Vincent.

League East Midlands Division 1

Atherstone Adders 1 Loughborough 7

LOUGHBOROUGH Town maintained their second position last Saturday in the Bodykraft League East Midlands Division 1 with a comprehensive defeat of lowly placed Atherstone Adders. With three matches remaining, victories in all these games would see promotion but two of the teams to play are only a few points behind so composure and determination must be to the forefront.

2nd X1 League Midlands Division 1

Burton 2nds 2 Loughborough Town 2nds 1

LOUGHBOROUGH Town 2nd XI sunk further into trouble with another disappointing loss at the weekend. Facing the side directly above them in the league and with a chance to leapfrog them, if only temporarily.

Town took a chance early on and grabbed the lead through a Mallory Percival deflection from a penalty corner after ten minutes.

The headlines of the game were written in the final 10 minutes as Burton pressed forward for the equaliser. Their pressure eventually told as Town gave away a penalty corner which was converted to level the game with just minutes left. The visitors then sensed blood and went in for the kill in the final five minutes, Town retreated and invited their opposition onto them. They didn’t need a second invitation and when a rash tackle by the home defence resulted in another penalty corner they converted it to give them the three points that all but consigns Loughborough to relegation.

The Loughborough Post Office man of the match was Raymond Li.

Town now have a mountain to climb in order to survive, needing nine points from their final games and other results to go their way to stand a chance of retaining their Midlands Division One status.

Central League South East Division 1

Loughborough Town 5th XI 5

Kettering Town 4th XI 0

TOWN went into this game against lowly opposition knowing they needed a moral boosting win following a string of losses.

Back to basics was the message at the start of the game and even though Town did not reach the high standard of hockey they are capable of, they dominated Kettering from the outset. Town took a deserved lead following good running down the right by Gareth Cadman who crossed in to Jack Ferrett. Ferrett managed to get his shot off but saw it deflected as it was on its way to goal. Fortunately for Town Chris Brealey had found good position on the goal line to deftly guide the ball past the Kettering keeper.

Town led by that one goal at half time and knew they would need more to make the game safe. They duly obliged. A short corner early in the second half saw a well worked routine find Neil Brealey who drove the ball into the danger zone where Martin Sexton was on hand to convert.

This second goal saw Town relax and were rarely troubled by Kettering. The third came from a strong run by Sexton from inside his own half before guiding the ball into the net from the narrowest of angles.

Number four came courtesy of another Cadman run down the right. Again he delivered a great cross which after a slight deflection off the keeper was converted by Ben Myatt.

Town made it five when good work by Brealey junior saw him find Ferrett in the D. Ferrett twisted and turned inside the area before sliding the ball home to complete Towns comfortable victory.